How to add permanent volume markings to a kettle.

[tateg]

After doing a brew, cleaned the vessel and leaving for a week and a half, the whole pot is still perfect with no evidence of corrosion or damage. I will honestly say though that having the markings made it sooooo easy for this latest brew, hitting all numbers perfectly!

I might have preferred a fancier font, but given the numbers have "holes" in them I found I was limited in my selection. Still having the ability to now etch any design into metal is awesome and I would like to thank the OP again for posting this method as I had not come across it before.

PS I measured the water vols using my grain scales (correct to 2g), too easy!

Edak
I need your stencils, the pot looks so good and functional !

 

[jackh]

Has anyone thought of doing this to their Braumiester?

 

[waggastew]

Just finished electro etching my new urn HLT. I used a variable voltage powerpack from the school science lab (I am a teacher), leads, aligator clips and the usual method described in this thread (although I bumped up the salt concentration slightly). I ended up marking the volumes relative to the volume I can get out of it (i.e. volume is to tap not to bottom of urn) as I figure its no use knowing how much water is in the bottom that I can't get to.

Also installed a new ball valve and thermowell for the temp controller. All went pretty well, even cutting the hole for the thermowell with a hole saw which I was scared I would screw up.

Tomorrow it will be onto marking the kettle (but unlike the HLT above the volume markings will be absolute for the pot) . Not looking forward to having my head in a 70L pot half the day!

 

[smithy010]

I've done it to my 70l kettle. It's the best thing I've ever done to it. I used a 12v dc supply. As a precaution I made a paste of citric acid and vinegar overnight to try and passivate it afterwards.

 

[waggastew]

I've done it to my 70l kettle. It's the best thing I've ever done to it. I used a 12v dc supply. As a precaution I made a paste of citric acid and vinegar overnight to try and passivate it afterwards.

ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1421137099.919009.jpg

How did you get the lines so even smith010?

 

[smithy010]

How did you get the lines so even smith010?

It's a one piece custom vinyl sticker, carefully applied and then you just trace them with the q tip dipped in solution.
The sticker was not cheap, but it came out top notch.

 

[sp0rk]

I did my keggle last week
My lines are a bit wonky, but seem to be pretty accurate
Tested it with a brew on saturday filling with my usual method (17L kmart bucket with litre markings) and the markings in the keggle were bang on
Will be doing the same on my 18gal keggle once I finish cleaning it up

 

[waggastew]

Just finished my kettle. I was going to try and cut a stencil out of contact but thought that getting it on straight would be a right pain. Ended up taping with green tape, seemed to work fine.

 

[mofox1]

Nice... maybe I should have given the sight glasses a miss after all. :unsure:

 

[lael]

Just finished my kettle. I was going to try and cut a stencil out of contact but thought that getting it on straight would be a right pain. Ended up taping with green tape, seemed to work fine.

waggastew - are your markings black because of the higher salt concentration?

 

[waggastew]

waggastew - are your markings black because of the higher salt concentration?

Not sure. They tend to appear different shades of grey depending on angle, if they are wet etc. Certainly the longer you apply the current the darker the etching gets.

 

[lael]

They look awesome! What font did you use? (If you are happy to share ) How far apart did the litre marks end up?

 

[droid]

pfft...I scratched the bejesus out of my keggle with a dremel, even scribed 15 where it should have been 20 and had to put an X through the 15 and scribe 20 alongside

 

[waggastew]

They look awesome! What font did you use? (If you are happy to share ) How far apart did the litre marks end up?

Font was some cheap stickers from Spotlight. I have a 70L kettle and the marks varied a bit at the bottom due to pickup tube, curves etc. You really need to measure out your own vessel due to variations in diameter etc

 

[lael]

Oh, I understand they need to be different. Just curious how close they are. I'm contemplating 2.5l markers so there are a few less and I figure half way between markers will tell you 1.25l, which is accurate enough and may be easier to count / use at a glance.

 

[waggastew]

L marks are about 7mm from top of one mark to the top of another